Shear



.1; A. SMITMANSD SHEAR June 9, 1936.

s Sheets-Sheeti Filed Feb. 28, 1935 June 9, 1936. A, M TMA 2,043,398

SHEAR v Filed Feb. 28, 1955 5 Sheds-Sheet 2 V g I:

3 In I "3 7. Q: W J 5 J 155 E LL 2 I:

g a X WITNESSES 1 1 INVENTOR g I I BY myjz fi; ATTORNEYS,

June 9, 1936. J. A. SMITMANS SHEAR Filed Feb. 28, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 31i atente June 9, 1936 SHEAR John A. Smitmans, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignorto United Engineering & Foundry Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporationof Pennsylvania Application February 28, 1935, Serial No. 8,650

10 Claims.

This invention relates to what is commonly referred to as a bloom shearand more particularly to a shear of this character of the up-cut typShears of this type are preferred to shears of the down-cut type becausethey avoid the necessity of using a downwardly adjustable or alsoaccurately guiding them in their shearing 20 movements.

These and various other objectsv as well as the variousother novelfeatures and advantages of the invention will be apparent when thefollowing detailed description is read in conjunction 25 with theaccompanying drawings of which Figs. 1 to 5 are a series of schematicviews illustrating the cycle of operation of the cutting blades on ashear of the type contemplated by the invention; Fig. 6 a plane view;Fig. '7 a rear view;

30 and Fig. 8 a sectional view taken on the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 6 ofa shear constructed in accordance with the invention.

In the operation of shears of this character as illustrated in Figs. 1to 5 the billet or bloom 35 I is delivered to and from the shear by afixed horizontal conveyor table 2. To receive the billet the blade heads3 and 4 are normally maintained in their open position as shown inFig. 1. When the billet is moved into position for shearing, the drivingmotor for the shear is set in motion. In the initial movement of theshear the upper blade head 3 is moved, as shown in Fig. 2, into contactwith the upper side of the billet where it firmly holds the billetagainst the conveyor table and resists the upward movement of the billetas the lower blade head 4 is moved upwardly-through the billet which itis as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 by the further 50 operation of the shearmotor. With the completion of the shearing operation, the two heads 3and 4 are returned to their normally openor billet-receiving positionillustrated again in Fig. 5

ready to perform a subsequent out. To permit 55 this operation the twoblade heads are of course mounted, irrespective of their drivingconnections, to permit such relative movements.

According to this invention, as illustrated by the embodiment thereofshown in detail in Figs.

6 to 8 a shear of the character referred to is 5 provided whichcomprises a housing 5 in which there are arranged for guided verticalmovement a lower blade head 6 and upper blade head I equipped withcooperating cutting blades 8 and 9 respectively. In the lower of theseblade heads 10 6 there is mounted a floating drive shaft ll, beingsecured thereto by a pair of journals l2 located at the ends of the headand held in place by suitable bolts to permit such parts being readilyassembled and disassembled.

The upper blade head I is pivotally mounted on a carrying shaft I3 theends of which are supported in a pair of connecting rods l4. The lowerends of these rods are mounted on a pair of eccentrics l5 which arekeyed or otherwise secured to the floating drive shaft ll just outwardlyof the journals II.

To hold the blade heads and their operating assembly in a normalposition of rest in. the shear housing with the lower blade headslightly below the surface of a conveyor table l6 which is employed toconduct the billets into and out of the shear, a vertical rib I1 isprovided in the rear mid-section of the lower head 6 and arranged torest at its lower end on a shelf I8 provided for that purpose in thebase of the housing. This rib I1 is also adapted to function as a guidefor limiting the lateral movement of the lower head and preventinterference with the vertical movement of the latter head in the eventthe billet is not centrally located in the shear when the cut is made,being mounted to move in a vertical groove l9 formed in the inner face20 of the shear housing. To prevent scale and other foreign mattergetting into this groove 40 Ha roof-like inclined cover plate Ila isprovided at the upper end of the rib l1.

To prevent any forward and rearward displacement of the upper blade headand thereby guide it as it is reciprocated, vertically disposed ribs IIare provided at its twolateral sides, and arranged to move in grooves 22formed for their reception in the inner side faces 23 of the housinguprights. For a like purpose and for also/ preventing spreading of thetwo blade heads when a cut is being made, a pair of vertically disposedguides orslides 24 is firmly secured to the sides of the lower bladehead 6 at the upper end thereof and projected upwardly therefrom to movein a pair of grooves 25 provided for their reception in inner faces ofthe rearwardly projecting side portions 26 of the upper blade head andon the opposite sides to which the aforementioned guiding ribs 2| areformed just rearwardly of the grooves 23.

With such an arrangement, when the drive shaft II is first rotated, thatis, when the upper blade head is in its upper position and-the lowerblade head resting on the shelf iii, the eccentrics l5 and connectingrods i4 cause the upper blade head 1 to move downwardlyuntil it engagesthe billet. As soon as this occurs the billet is forced against theconveyor I 6 and upward movement of the billet is prevented. With thestopping of the downward movement of the upper blade head, the continuedmovement of the drive shaft i6 causes it itself to rotate about thecenters of the eccentrics l5, and in doing so lifts the lower blade head6 off the shelf I 8 and forces it upwardly through the billet to producethe out.

After the cut is made the continued rotation of the drive shaft llcauses the lower blade head 6 to move downwardly until the rib l1engages the supporting shelf l8. This reinaugurates the rotation of theeccentrics l5 about the center of the drive shaft II and causes theupper head to be returned towards its upper position. As soon as it hasreached such position the cycle of movement is completed and the furthermovement of the drive shaft stopped until the next cut is to be made.This stopping of the blade heads may be accomplished by any suitablemeans, such as a clutch or by stopping the driving motor, the detailsthereof not being shown, as such in themselves comprise no part of theinvention,

To permit the above-described relative movement of the two blade headsand the drive shaft H to be operated without the driving or shearingforces, other than those involved in raising and lowering the upperblade head I, which are comparatively negligible, being imparted to theshear housing, the drive shaft is loosely mounted in the housing 5 andflexibly connected to its source of driving power. As shown its drivingpower is provided by a power unit 28 which is connected to it by anintermediate shaft 29 and a pair of flexible couplings 3| which areprovided with suflicient play to afford all of the free movement in thedrive shaft necessitated.

In addition to the foregoing features, to further facilitate theoperation of the blade heads a pair of counterweights 32 is employed tocounter-balance the weight of the upper blade head 1 and a similarweight 33 to counter-balance the weight of the lower blade head 6; Asshown these weights are mounted on levers 34 and 35 pivotally fulcrumedon a shaft 36 mounted in bearings 31 located just forwardly of the baseof the housing 5, the inner ends of the levers 34 being pivotallyconnected by rods 38 to the lower ends of the side portions 26 of theupper blade head I and the corresponding end of the lever 35 pivotallyconnected by a rod 39 to lower'blade-head 1 epposite the lower end ofthe centrally disposed guiding rib l1.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained theprinciple and mode of operation of my invention and have illustrated anddescribed what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However,I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appendedclaims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specificallyillustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A shear comprising a supporting housing, an upper and a lower bladecarrier equipped with cutting blades mounted for relative reciprocatorymovement in said housing, a floating drive shaft rotatably secured toone of said carriers for reciprocating them both relative to each other,an eccentric on said shaft, means connecting said eccentric to saidother carrier for actuating the latter through the rotation of saidshaft, and means for actuating said blade carriers comprising a sourceof power connected by a flexible connection to said drive shaft.

2. A shear comprising a supporting housing, an upper and a lower bladecarrier equipped with cutting blades mounted for relative reciprocatorymovement in said housing, interfitting parts on said carriers andhousing slidably engaging each other for guiding the movement of saidcarriers, a floating drive shaft rotatably secured to one of saidcarriers, an eccentric on said shaft, a rigid strut secured to saideccentric and pivotally connected to said other carrier for actuatingthe lat ter and adapting one carrier to carry the weight of the other,means on said housing for limiting the movement of one of said carriers,and means for actuating said shear comprising a source of powerconnected by a flexible connection to said drive shaft.

3. A shear comprising a supporting housing, an upper and a lower bladecarrier equipped with cutting blades mounted for relative reciprocatorymovement in said housing, interfitting parts on said carriers andhousing slidably engaging each other for guiding the movement of saidcarriers, 9. floating drive shaft rotatably secured to said lowercarrier, an eccentric on said shaft, a rigid strut secured to saideccentric and pivotally connected to said upper carrier for actuatingthe latter and transmitting its weight to the lower carrier, means onsaid housing for limiting the downward movement of said lower carrier,and means for actuating said shear comprising a source of powerconnected by a flexible connection to said drive shaft.

4. A shear comprising a supporting housing, an upper and a lower bladecarrier equipped with cutting blades mounted for relative reciprocatorymovement in said housing, interfltting parts on said carriers andhousing slidably engaging each other for guiding the movement of saidcarriers, a floating drive shaft rotatably secured tdsaid lower carrier,a pair of eccentrics on said shaft adjacent the ends of said lowercarrierfa rigid strut mounted on each of said eccentrics and pivotallysecured to the two ends of said upper carrier for actuating the latterand transmitting its weight to the lower carrier, means on said housingfor engaging and limiting the downward movement of said lower carrier,and means for actuating said drive shaft.

5. A shear comprising a supporting housing, an upper and a lower bladecarrier equipped with cutting blades mounted for relative reciprocatorymovement in said housing, interfitting parts on the sides of saidcarriers and housing slidably engaging each other for guiding themovement of said carriers, a rib provided on the rear face-of said lowercarrier to move in a groove in the back of said housing to preventtilting of the lower carrier, a floating drive shaft rotatably securedto said lower carrier, an eccentric on said shaft, a rigid strut securedto said eccentric and pivotally connected to said upper carrier foractuating the latter and transmitting its blade carriers.

7. A shear according to claim 1 provided with pivotally mounted leverspivotally secured at one end to each of said blade carriers andcounterweights for counterbalancing the weights of said carriers securedto the opposite ends of said levers.

8. A shear according to claim 1 characterized by the floating driveshaft being connected to the source of power by an intermediary driveshaft and the two shafts joined together by a flexible connection whichpermits the intermediary shaftto follow the movement of the floatingshaft. A

9. A shear comprising a frame, a top knife block mounted for freevertical movement in said frame, a bottom knife block mounted forvertical movement in said top knife block, a shaft mounted for rotationin said bottom knife block, an eccentric on said shaft, a linkconnection between said eccentric and said top knife block, and adriving motor connected by a flexible coupling to said shaft foractuating said shear.

10. A shear comprising a supporting housing, an upper and a lower bladecarrier equipped with cutting blades mounted for relative reciprocatorymovement in said housing, a floating drive shaft rotatably secured toone of said carriers, an eccentric on said shaft, means connecting saideccentric to said other carrier, and a power actuated floating torsionalmember operably connected to said shaft for actuating the shear.

JOHN A. SMITMANS.

